US, DPRK open talks in New York aimed at salvaging summit

NEW YORK — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's former military intelligence chief have opened talks in New York to try to salvage an on-again, off-again summit between President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un.

After an informal dinner on Wednesday, Pompeo and Kim Yong-chol were meeting at the three-bedroom apartment residence of the US deputy ambassador to the United Nations. Kim Yong-chol, one of Kim Jong-un's closest aides, is the highest-ranking DPRK official to visit the US in 18 years.

Pompeo, who spoke with Trump on Wednesday night and with national security adviser John Bolton early Thursday, was accompanied by Andrew Kim, the head of a CIA unit assigned to work on DPRK, and Mark Lambert, the head of the State Department's Korea desk.

AP